Truck



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. 1,524,339 l w. A. cLEGHoRN TRUCK Filed'Feb. 27, 1924 3 sheets-snm 1,MUN ummm "uhmm Jam 27,1925. 1,524,339

W. A. CLEGHORN TRUCK Filed Feb. 27, 1924 3 Sheets-.Sheet 2 31a/vanto@Jan, 27, 1,925. v 1,524,339

w. A. CLEG HORN TRUCK FledfFeb. 27, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jan.27, 1925.

ff um'riemSTATEs@#PTENT@forries ,Application filedebruary Be it knownthat LVILLIAM ARTHUR LCLEGHORM a. citizen of the United States,:residing atr Vaialua,` Qahu', Territory of l. 4Hawaii, have invented`cert ain f new and Ause ful lImprovements in Trucks; and I do, here-`by; declare theiifollowing to be a full, clear,

aand exact description of thev invention, `such as will...enable` others.skilled ntlle .art to up isa-me.

which itcappertains tou'nake. and. .use vEthe Myf` invention-lfre-lates,toimprovements in f trucks ifor. harvesting. or gathering fruit,.peg-stables and the ylikeysuch as are common.- i ly1 grown-in-regular..rows in fields, sueli, for

example, as -.p izn:eapples,. and has. for. its` ob-' 'jects to provideawhee-led truck adapted te straddle one orunore rows of .the growingplants with zt-he wheels :operating in spaces f or furrows.between;yadjacent rows, the body portion of thetruck including two ortmorebasket-like receptacles -fdispjosed on opposite sides offtheVehicle,eachreceptacle sloping `from thefront tothe rear andV havinga bot- `tom- 'section substantiallystraight at its frontv portion,l ,andmerging', into` an arcuate discharge endiwhich :is closed by.a taibgate,1*' the Mvehicle preferably being` provided with shafts i disposed atone `side so that- `the draft Y wanimal may travel inf-the spacebetween:two f rows The invention is illustrated int-he accom- :panying drawings,innvhich:

Eigure-l is a side elevation of the vehicle. Figure 2 is a longitudinalsection through one of thezbodymembers. Figure 3 is a. plan viewwitlttheibottomof one'ofythe body sectionsomitted, `tumore clearlyiillustrate the structural arrangement of the frame and the supporttherefor. f ,Figure -lis arearendfielevation.

f1 ,ll-ignite.15k is a :planifeviewof aeanvas or :similar cover:- forv.the. L bottom of; each t body section.

@Referring to .the drawings, :ligindeates a 1 generally arch shapedsupporting; memb er preferably formed ofnsteelctubing, to,. the

lower ends of which are welded.:twbchorbnH `zontal spindles 2,/:uponwhich are journaled f# the'traction wheels 3, 3. 'f'lhespread of. the

`arch shaped :member 1: should be suliicient toI span oiwstraddleifoneortwo rows offthe -growing` plants to .befharvestede so that.. the V#wheels"wtlnur'inithewspaces -betweenadja- 27.5.1924. 'Serial No.695,564.

'cent rows,.and obviously the height of the arch should be suflicient toclear the-tops of the plants.

Thebody' of the vehicle `is secured to the support or arch shapedmember, said body portion including' a fabricated frame comprising` ahorizontall front-"sill 9, extending the fullwidtli of the structure,and preferjabl'y formed of a .rwooden beam, and a rear "sill thformed"of metal tubing bent in the 'form cfa triple bow, having an upwardlyareliedmidsection andreverse bent arcuate yend sections, th'e.front andrear sills being connected byvlongitudinal wooden sills arranged inpairs, namelytwo end sills 6, 6 and two spaced intermediate sills 5, 5.which 'latter are secured by strips or stirrups el, 4, embracing thearch shaped support l and having Ilateralfianges which are bolted to.the side faces of thesills 5, Connecting the rear ends of the sills 5,:Band spanning` the arch ofthe rear sill 8 is a, bracing sill 11, whichis secured to the adjacent face of the rear'sill 8 bymeans of brackets12 or L- irons,which are 4welded to the sill 8 and secured to theladjacent faceof the sill 11 by Il-olts.'"l`he abutting'port-ons ofthefront -sill 9, the brace lland the longitudinal sills 5 are secured.-tofgetherby corner brackets 13j The jointsbetween the ends of thefront sill 9 and the end sills 6, Gare braced by angle plates 14,15bolted to the respec- .tive members and the rear ends of the sills 6,are attached to the rear sill 8, bymeans -ofbracket members 16, eachhaving a curved portion welded to the outer face of the sill 6. Toyapply the necessary strength and vrigidity between the body and thesupporting member 1 suitably formed struts 17 of .L-.iron are securedtothe front sill 9 by bolts onsimilar fastenings,l and welded at theirlower ends to the .lower portions of the arch sha-pedsupport 1.

The .body portionlof the vehicle isproyioledwith two basketlike.receptacles and defined by, the. ,spacesincluded between therontandrear;sills 9 and 8,V andleach lateral .pairi ofthelongitudinallsills 5. and 6,- .each `'receptaclebeing.:completed bysupplying a bottom, preferably formed ofY .longitudinal wiresQlstretched benveen an l..bar section QQ-fseclircd, tothe under. face ofthe front sill and the lateral bow or concaved section of therear. sill8. ,gTllese lgngitudinal wires irl() Vfastened to the undersides of thesills 5 and 6. The bottom forms a straight line where it oins the frontsill 9 and gradually merges into a deepening curve where it joins therear sill 8, the mid section of the bottom being inclined as clearlyillustra-ted in Figs. 1 and 2.

The rear ordischarge end of each receptacle is closed by a tail gate,which preferably takes the form and structure illustrated,

Y namely that of a segment of a circle generally conforming to the areadefined by the corresponding bent portion of the rear sill 8. A sillustrated, each tail gate comprises a frame made of rods or light pipesections, comprising a bottom member of general p arch shape, theA endsof which are united by a chord member 30, with light vertical bars orwires 32 secured between the mem bers 30 and 30. The gate is hinged tothe corresponding rea-r sill section by means of strap like hinges 31,one end of which is welded to the surface of the rear sill and the otherend bent into a loo or eye, which embraces the member 30 of t e gate.Suitable latches 33 fastened to the rear sill serve I to hold each gateYinclosed position. The

gates are provided with suspension chains 534 Vattached to the chord andto the rear sill, so that when the gatesare opened they will stand atsubstantially the same inclination as the mid sections of the recep- Ytacles with which they co-operate, and the j or other receivingstructure.

articles contained in the Vrespective recep-A tacles may be readilyunloaded by sliding them over the inclined gates onto a platform Inorder to provide for an expeditious unloading for each receptacle and toavoid bruising or damaging the fruit or vegetables in the unloadingoperation, it is found preferable to provide each receptacle with asuitable lining, which is laid loosely over the bot-tom Y and completelycovers the latter, as` illustrated in F igs. 2 and 5. This lining may beconstructed of canvas, cut to appropriate form, as shown in Fig. 5, thebody/i0 of which is provided on its rearward edge with beckets orhandles 41. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the canvas cover for the bottomoverlies the entire wire bottom and turns up for a short distance at therear against the tail ate. f g In operating the truck, as shown, it ismoved by a. draft animal, hitched to the shafts 7, extendinglongitudinally of the plant rows with the wheels running in the furrowsor spaces between adjacent rows and the supporting arch like member 1spanning one or more rows of plants. The attendants gathering the fruitor vegetables move along with the truck and deposit the gatheredarticles in the nearer basket-like receptacle until the truck is loaded.The vehicle is then drawn to the unloading point and the tail gates areunlatched and dropped to inclined position, and each of the canvascovers l10 overlying a bottom of a compartment or receptacle is graspedby the handles 41 and pulled backward, thereb withdrawing the entireload of fruit or the like from the vehicle at one operation and withoutbruising or otherwise damaging the goods.

as is liable to be the case if the goods were Y dumped from the truck orpermitted to slide out of the basket-like receptacles by gravity. Inorder to further reduce the liability of damaging the goods while thelatter are being loaded on to the truck, and subsequently transported tothe place of discharge, the two wheels of the truck are referablyprovided with pneumatic tires w ich greatly reduce the shocks and jarswhich would be otherwise imparted to the moving vehicle, when the fieldsare rock and uneven, or crossed by ditches or ri ges.

lVhat I claim is:

1. A truck comprising an arch shaped support; wheels mounted on thelower ends thereof; a body frame secured to said support including ahorizontal front sill, a triple bowed rear sill having an upwardlyarched mid section and reverse bend arcuate end sections, and two pairsof longitudinal sills conecting the front and rear sills with a spacebetween the pairs; bottom sections extending from the arcuate endsections of' the rear sill to the front sill and between each lateralpair of longitudinal sills and forming with said sills laterally spacedreceptacles; and tail gates hinged to the rear sill to close the roarsof said receptacles.

2. A harvesting truck com risingr :in arched supporting frame a apted tostraddle a row of the product being harvested and provided with acarrier wheel on cach side, a product receptacle mounted above eachwheel. and equipped with n flexible bottom which is downwardly in-vclined from front to rear, and a relatively soft lining normallycovering said bottom, and slidable thereon, substantially as described.

3. A truck comprising an arch shaped support', wheels mounted on thelower ends thereof: a body frame secured to said supportincluding ahorizontal front sill, two pairs of spaced longitudinal sills, and arear sill havingdownwardly bowed end sections extending between the endsof the respective pairs of longitudinal sills, bottoms extending betweenthe front sill and the bowed end sections of the rear sill and betweeneach lateral pair of longitudinal sills forming with said sills separatelaterally sp-aced transversely curved and rearwardly inclinedreceptacles; and tail gates hinged to the rear sill to close the rearsof said receptacles.

4. A truck comprising an arch shaped support; wheels lnonnted on thelower ends thereof; a body .traine secured tol said support including ahorizontal front sill, two pairs of spaced longitudinal sills, and arear sill having downwardly bowed end sections extending between theends of the respective pairs of longitudinal sills, bottoins extendingbetween the front sill and the bowed end sections of the rear sill andbetween each lateral pair of longitudinal sills forining with said sillsseparate laterally spaced transversely curved and rearwardly inclinedreceptacles; tail gates hinged to the rear sill to close the rears ofsaid receptacles; 'f

and a removable lining covering each bottom and adapted to be withdrawnwith the load of each receptacle when the corresponding tail gate isopened.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature.

WILLIAM ARTHUR CLEGHORN.

